British Bobsleigh Association
Europa Cup Rounds 05 and 06 - Altenberg Race Reports, December 2008
14 December 2008
The bobsleigh teams headed South across Germany to Altenberg for the third Europa Cup race meeting of the season and the final one for this year. The picturesque town of Altenberg is located in the Saxon region of Germany and the races on the challenging Altenberg track were held on 11th and 14th December 2008. Altenberg has three times hosted the World Championships, in 1991, 2000 and in February 2008, when Germany dominated the event.
2-Man Bobsleigh Race 06
The 2-Man race was held on 11th December 2008 and was a clean sweep for the German team, who took 1st, 2nd and 3rd places, with Maximilian Arndt / Cliff Denner heading Manuel Machata / Richard Adjei-Otto who finished in 2nd place and Oliver Harrass / Gino Gerhardi who finished in 3rd place.
Royal Marine John Jackson was paired with Roger Smith of the RAF for this race and finished in 9th place, which was a good result on this challenging track. Martin Wright / Henry Nwume finished 13th having been 15th fastest in the first run, but improved to be 12th fastest on their second run.
4-Man Bobsleigh Race 06
The 4-Man race was held on 14th December 2008 and saw Oliver Harrass / Robert Gothner / Gino Gerhardi / Peter Tiefert of Germany win with Maximilian Arndt / Cliff Denner / Sebastian Schafers / Robert Schoenborn also of Germany in 2nd place. The Russian team of Alexey Gorlachev / Kirill Sosunov / Dmitri Elyutin / Evgeny Pechenkin took 3rd place.
The GB1 bobsleigh of John Jackson / Jamie Devlin / Keith McLaughlin / Roger Smith finished in 7th place, recording identical times in each of their two runs to finish the year with another good result.
Women's Bobsleigh Race 05
The Women's race was held on 11th December 2008 and was won by Amanda Stepenko / Veronique Fortin of Canada with Great Britain's Paula Walker / Kelly Thomas taking a truly excellent 2nd and Stefanie Szczurek / Fanziska Bertels of Germany finishing in 3rd place.
The GB1 pairing of Paula Walker / Kelly Thomas recorded the fastest time on their second run from only the 4th fastest start time, which demonstrates just how well Army driver Paula Walker is driving at the moment.
Race Reports written by Mark Carter - Performance Coordinator
2-Man Bobsleigh Race 06
The 2-Man race was held on 11th December 2008 and was a clean sweep for the German team, who took 1st, 2nd and 3rd places, with Maximilian Arndt / Cliff Denner heading Manuel Machata / Richard Adjei-Otto who finished in 2nd place and Oliver Harrass / Gino Gerhardi who finished in 3rd place.
Royal Marine John Jackson was paired with Roger Smith of the RAF for this race and finished in 9th place, which was a good result on this challenging track. Martin Wright / Henry Nwume finished 13th having been 15th fastest in the first run, but improved to be 12th fastest on their second run.
4-Man Bobsleigh Race 06
The 4-Man race was held on 14th December 2008 and saw Oliver Harrass / Robert Gothner / Gino Gerhardi / Peter Tiefert of Germany win with Maximilian Arndt / Cliff Denner / Sebastian Schafers / Robert Schoenborn also of Germany in 2nd place. The Russian team of Alexey Gorlachev / Kirill Sosunov / Dmitri Elyutin / Evgeny Pechenkin took 3rd place.
The GB1 bobsleigh of John Jackson / Jamie Devlin / Keith McLaughlin / Roger Smith finished in 7th place, recording identical times in each of their two runs to finish the year with another good result.
Women's Bobsleigh Race 05
The Women's race was held on 11th December 2008 and was won by Amanda Stepenko / Veronique Fortin of Canada with Great Britain's Paula Walker / Kelly Thomas taking a truly excellent 2nd and Stefanie Szczurek / Fanziska Bertels of Germany finishing in 3rd place.
The GB1 pairing of Paula Walker / Kelly Thomas recorded the fastest time on their second run from only the 4th fastest start time, which demonstrates just how well Army driver Paula Walker is driving at the moment.
Race Reports written by Mark Carter - Performance Coordinator